SciFiNow - 06.2020

Patrick Stewart asked

Whoopi Goldberg to

reprise her role as Guinan

in Season Two of Star Trek:

Picard. She accepted.

REVIEWS TV

068 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K

Star Trek:

Picard

Engage

Release Out now

Showrunners Alex Kurtzman, Akiva

Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer

Cast Patrick Stewart, Isa Briones, Alison Pill,

Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera,

Harry Treadaway

Distributor Amazon

Certificate 12

Format

Almost two decades on from Star

Trek: Nemesis, we are reunited with

(former) Admiral Jean-Luc Picard

(Patrick Stewart), as he wiles away his

final years running his family’s vineyard

in France.

Now separated from Starfleet, Picard’s quiet

life gets turned upside down when receives

a visit from an impossibly life-like outlawed

synthetic (Isa Briones), and sets out to defend

her and her kind. However, the Romulans are

just as keen to destroy her.

This is the first Star Trek show not to be set

on a Starfleet vessel – not only that, but Picard’s

encounters with Starfleet throughout the show

Red Dwarf:

The Promised

Land

The second coming

of Cloister

Release 9 April

Showrunner Doug Naylor

Cast Craig Charles, Chris Barrie,

Danny John Jules, Robert Llewellyn

Distributor BBCSD

Certificate PG

Format VOD

Just as Lister starts to really run

from his responsibilities as the last

human, the boys from the Dwarf do what

they always do; stumble on to something

vital that forces them to ask serious questions. Also,

to run away a lot.

This first ever feature-length Red Dwarf special

shows off everything the show does very well

including several things it’s not done for a while.

Diving deep into continuity to show us what became

of the people who abandoned Cat, it feels less like

the reset button the show has been fond of in the

past and more like an evolution. For the first time,

the Dwarf crew are drawing on their experience in

a manner that’s mature and grounded. Don’t worry,

it’s also still panicky and charmingly incompetent,

but hey, it wouldn’t be Red Dwarf without frantic

consulting of the manual, last minute saves and the

Cat being an endearing sociopath.

But this isn’t just Red Dwarf. It’s, mostly, Red

Dwarf as it should be in 2020. There are moments

of real character and poignancy for everyone here,

especially Rimmer whose relationship with Lister

is front and centre in the third act in a way that

balances script and special effects with surprising

grace and wit. That being said, everyone gets a

moment to shine, including the guest stars. Ray

Fearon is a great, intimidating villain and Tom

Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon and Lucy Pearman are

instantly endearing as ‘Cloister’s’ secret disciples.

Plus the special effects and increased budget really

are all on the screen.

It doesn’t all work. There is a tone deaf extended

joke in the opening five minutes that’s going to

offend and bore more audience members than it

amuses. If you can get past that single bum note

though, what follows it is one of the best outings

for the small red one in years. The show suits this

format well and hopefully will be back here soon.

Alasdair Stuart

    

are antagonistic at best. This is a show that

looks at what happens when a force for good

becomes poisoned by selfish motivations from

within. And Starfleet isn’t the only one at fault

• this aged Picard is often motivated by a desire
  to prove himself still useful, and as a result
  makes mistakes that he wouldn’t have made in
  his Next Generation days.
  This show is focused tightly on Picard, but
  over the course of the ten episodes his new
  crew are given their chances to shine. Alison
  Pill’s conflicted scientist Agnes gets the most
  interesting arc, while Rios’ host of multi-
  accented emergency holograms are surprisingly
  fun, and Evan Evagora’s sweet-hearted warrior
  is adorable.
  Meanwhile, returning Star Trek guest stars
  are given very little to do, but none are as
  frustratingly underused as Jeri Ryan’s Seven Of
  Nine – although she and Picard get to share one
  of the season’s most quietly affecting scenes,
  bonding over their shared Borg trauma.
  There are times when it’s hard to find the old
  Picard in this new informal setting, and it’s only
  when Stewart is given a classic Picard speech
  that we truly feel that we’re watching the same
  character that we followed for years.

One of the problems is that Picard is kept

separate from the show’s villains, and without

an antagonist to pair him against, Stewart is

often left without much to work with. We can’t

help but wonder if Picard’s schism with Starfleet

would have been a more thrilling subject matter

for this show...

Abigail Chandler

    

068_SFN_170 TV Revs.indd 68 19/03/2020 10:35

Patrick Stewart asked

Whoopi Goldberg to

reprise her role as Guinan

in Season Two of Star Trek:

Picard. She accepted.

REVIEWS TV

068 | W W W. S C I FI N OW.CO.U K

Star Trek:

Picard

Engage

Release Out now
Showrunners Alex Kurtzman, Akiva
Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer
Cast Patrick Stewart, Isa Briones, Alison Pill,
Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera,
Harry Treadaway
Distributor Amazon
Certificate 12
Format

Almost two decades on from Star
Trek: Nemesis, we are reunited with
(former) Admiral Jean-Luc Picard
(Patrick Stewart), as he wiles away his
final years running his family’s vineyard
in France.
Now separated from Starfleet, Picard’s quiet
life gets turned upside down when receives
a visit from an impossibly life-like outlawed
synthetic (Isa Briones), and sets out to defend
her and her kind. However, the Romulans are
just as keen to destroy her.
This is the first Star Trek show not to be set
on a Starfleet vessel – not only that, but Picard’s
encounters with Starfleet throughout the show

Red Dwarf:

The Promised

Land

The second coming

of Cloister

Release 9 April

Showrunner Doug Naylor

Cast Craig Charles, Chris Barrie,

Danny John Jules, Robert Llewellyn

Distributor BBCSD

Certificate PG

Format VOD

Just as Lister starts to really run

from his responsibilities as the last

human, the boys from the Dwarf do what

they always do; stumble on to something

vital that forces them to ask serious questions. Also,

to run away a lot.

This first ever feature-length Red Dwarf special

shows off everything the show does very well

including several things it’s not done for a while.

Diving deep into continuity to show us what became

of the people who abandoned Cat, it feels less like

the reset button the show has been fond of in the

past and more like an evolution. For the first time,

the Dwarf crew are drawing on their experience in

a manner that’s mature and grounded. Don’t worry,

it’s also still panicky and charmingly incompetent,

but hey, it wouldn’t be Red Dwarf without frantic

consulting of the manual, last minute saves and the

Cat being an endearing sociopath.

But this isn’t just Red Dwarf. It’s, mostly, Red

Dwarf as it should be in 2020. There are moments

of real character and poignancy for everyone here,

especially Rimmer whose relationship with Lister

is front and centre in the third act in a way that

balances script and special effects with surprising

grace and wit. That being said, everyone gets a

moment to shine, including the guest stars. Ray

Fearon is a great, intimidating villain and Tom

Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon and Lucy Pearman are

instantly endearing as ‘Cloister’s’ secret disciples.

Plus the special effects and increased budget really

are all on the screen.

It doesn’t all work. There is a tone deaf extended

joke in the opening five minutes that’s going to

offend and bore more audience members than it

amuses. If you can get past that single bum note

though, what follows it is one of the best outings

for the small red one in years. The show suits this

format well and hopefully will be back here soon.

Alasdair Stuart

    

are antagonistic at best. This is a show that

looks at what happens when a force for good

becomes poisoned by selfish motivations from

within. And Starfleet isn’t the only one at fault

• this aged Picard is often motivated by a desire
  to prove himself still useful, and as a result
  makes mistakes that he wouldn’t have made in
  his Next Generation days.
  This show is focused tightly on Picard, but
  over the course of the ten episodes his new
  crew are given their chances to shine. Alison
  Pill’s conflicted scientist Agnes gets the most
  interesting arc, while Rios’ host of multi-
  accented emergency holograms are surprisingly
  fun, and Evan Evagora’s sweet-hearted warrior
  is adorable.
  Meanwhile, returning Star Trek guest stars
  are given very little to do, but none are as
  frustratingly underused as Jeri Ryan’s Seven Of
  Nine – although she and Picard get to share one
  of the season’s most quietly affecting scenes,
  bonding over their shared Borg trauma.
  There are times when it’s hard to find the old
  Picard in this new informal setting, and it’s only
  when Stewart is given a classic Picard speech
  that we truly feel that we’re watching the same
  character that we followed for years.

One of the problems is that Picard is kept

separate from the show’s villains, and without

an antagonist to pair him against, Stewart is

often left without much to work with. We can’t

help but wonder if Picard’s schism with Starfleet

would have been a more thrilling subject matter

for this show...

Abigail Chandler

    